Quackers
There are lots of things to find 'alive' at a cemetery. The other afternoon at Evergreen, as the sun began its creep behind the tall pines, I came upon some open water at one of the small ponds and a bunch of ducks paddling about. Now, while a group of ducks in flight is called a flock, on water or land they can be referred to as a brace, a raft, a team, a flock or even a paddling. That last one is pretty cool, a paddling! As some of you might know, I worked at this cemetery summers through my high school and college years. One my jobs, while riding shotgun with the cemetery foreman Herbie, was feeding the ducks. During the summer months, the city would drag out to the island on the big pond a duckhouse and release a paddling of white ducks, about 20 or so. They needed food each day, and that's where I came in. I'd load up two buckets of duck food stored in the shed, and we'd head out to the pond. There were a few wild ducks like these that got to the food, but summers they were mostly of the white variety. When I drove up the other day, they were all huddled about on the water, but hurriedly made a bee-line for my truck as soon as I stopped.
They must have recognized me.
Their approach was loud and vigorous.
Without food, there was no way I was stepping onto that snow.
Just Ducky!
Yup a 'paddling' of ducks can be a wee bit scary when hungry Birdman :)
ReplyDeleteThey look so shiny and beautiful in the late sun.
ReplyDeleteSome very content looking ducks.
ReplyDeleteYou brought 'em food...so who picked up the remains of that food? The whole process is just ducky! I've not been chased by ducks but I've been chased by geese and those suckers bite!
ReplyDeleteBTW, do you know why they put fences around cemeteries? People are just dying to get in!
They look so cold all huddled together.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to have had a job like that! We aren't supposed to feed the ducks at one of the lakes I frequently walk around, but people do it anyway.
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a crowd!
ReplyDeleteNot a bad job, then...
ReplyDeleteLike your photo of these hardy winter ducks. If there is food, they will spend the winter in the north. They are quick to exploit any place where there is water and food.
ReplyDeleteso cute. my whistler buddies never let me sleep in past day break. :)
ReplyDeleteYou were outnumbered for sure!
ReplyDeleteHow cute ! they seem to enjoy the spot of sun !
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely winter scene, love it!
ReplyDeleteHmmmm. Sounds a little like a Hitchcock movie. A cemetery. A brace of ducks. A lone man in a truck. I can hear the music starting to swell...
ReplyDeletePaddling? Sounds a little kinky.
ReplyDeleteAmazing shot.
ReplyDeleteThey never forget a friend! Enjoy knowing that the ducks are still around, waiting for a handout.
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty wild that the city would have the ducks. What a job.
ReplyDeleteThere's a man in our neighborhood who feeds the ducks and geese. They get excited around 4 PM each day and will run up to any car to see if it is him!
ReplyDeleteI never realized that ducks were "stocked" in parks. Really? These days there is no shortage of the wild kind. Or geese.
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